With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
Beastie Boys Story (Spike Jonze)
Even with its two-hour running time, the experience of watching Spike Jonze’s “live documentary” Beastie Boys Story has the feeling of a breezy, intimate, and perhaps too-short trip through the band’s history. Documenting a live event hosted in Brooklyn by surviving members Mike “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, the collaboration is a performed extension of their memoir, Beastie Boys Book. Reteaming with the group, Jonze directs this minimal two-man stage show about three guys who were lucky enough to cultivate and sustain a relationship as best friends for years. – John F. (full review)
Where to Stream: Apple...
Beastie Boys Story (Spike Jonze)
Even with its two-hour running time, the experience of watching Spike Jonze’s “live documentary” Beastie Boys Story has the feeling of a breezy, intimate, and perhaps too-short trip through the band’s history. Documenting a live event hosted in Brooklyn by surviving members Mike “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, the collaboration is a performed extension of their memoir, Beastie Boys Book. Reteaming with the group, Jonze directs this minimal two-man stage show about three guys who were lucky enough to cultivate and sustain a relationship as best friends for years. – John F. (full review)
Where to Stream: Apple...
- 4/24/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Rachel Mason’s mother never thought her art would go anywhere. No matter how many galleries and museums showed her work she would always be a failure, her career so far underground it may as well be six feet under. How beautifully ironic, then, that a film about her mother is the very thing bringing Mason’s work mainstream in a major way, since it just debuted on Netflix under Ryan Murphy’s oversight.
“Circus of Books” takes its name from the gay porn bookstore Karen and Barry Mason owned, overseeing two locations in Los Angeles for over thirty years. Not only is “Circus of Books” a lively and entertaining record of a vital piece of Lgbtq history, the film is also a deeply personal story about faith, living honestly, familial wounds, and the creative process. Mason turns the camera on her family in brave and often painful ways, lovingly...
“Circus of Books” takes its name from the gay porn bookstore Karen and Barry Mason owned, overseeing two locations in Los Angeles for over thirty years. Not only is “Circus of Books” a lively and entertaining record of a vital piece of Lgbtq history, the film is also a deeply personal story about faith, living honestly, familial wounds, and the creative process. Mason turns the camera on her family in brave and often painful ways, lovingly...
- 4/22/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Karen and Barry Mason were an average couple living the 1980s Southern California dream — a humble home in West Hollywood, three healthy children, weekly services at a synagogue in the San Fernando Valley and a small business to call their own.
That business, unbeknownst to friends at barbecues and PTA meetings, was at one point the largest distributor of gay pornography in the country, and a cultural safe haven for the queer community amid the draconian moralism of the Reagan era.
Their oddball, deeply emotional family journey is at the heart of the new Netflix documentary “Circus of Books,” which debuts April 22. Directed by the Masons’ daughter Rachel Mason, the film explores the trials of the Mason tribe, who lived in fear of judgment from their God and their peers while also forging lasting bonds with the societal outcasts who frequented their bookstore and built a community against the odds.
That business, unbeknownst to friends at barbecues and PTA meetings, was at one point the largest distributor of gay pornography in the country, and a cultural safe haven for the queer community amid the draconian moralism of the Reagan era.
Their oddball, deeply emotional family journey is at the heart of the new Netflix documentary “Circus of Books,” which debuts April 22. Directed by the Masons’ daughter Rachel Mason, the film explores the trials of the Mason tribe, who lived in fear of judgment from their God and their peers while also forging lasting bonds with the societal outcasts who frequented their bookstore and built a community against the odds.
- 4/22/2020
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
In a charming new documentary produced by Ryan Murphy, a film-maker explores her parents’ business: a Los Angeles store selling gay porn
Rachel Mason always remembers her parents telling her as a teenager not to let anyone know what they did for a living. “They used the same codes the mafia does,” Mason said. “My mom had five different ‘official’ job titles as one point. She’d say, ‘I’m in real estate’ or ‘I’m a manager’.”
Both of which were, in a sense, true. Karen and Barry Mason – two quiet, middle-aged and, in the mother’s case, devoutly religious, people – did, in fact, own a commercial property and did run a store. What they kept hidden was the fact that their store happened to be the largest purveyor of hardcore gay pornography in Los Angeles, a place unknown to the general public but legendary among gay men across the Us.
Rachel Mason always remembers her parents telling her as a teenager not to let anyone know what they did for a living. “They used the same codes the mafia does,” Mason said. “My mom had five different ‘official’ job titles as one point. She’d say, ‘I’m in real estate’ or ‘I’m a manager’.”
Both of which were, in a sense, true. Karen and Barry Mason – two quiet, middle-aged and, in the mother’s case, devoutly religious, people – did, in fact, own a commercial property and did run a store. What they kept hidden was the fact that their store happened to be the largest purveyor of hardcore gay pornography in Los Angeles, a place unknown to the general public but legendary among gay men across the Us.
- 4/22/2020
- by Jim Farber
- The Guardian - Film News
Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp is going from the world of the Upside Down to world of the culinary arts in the newly released comedy Abe from Brazilian director Fernando Grostein Andrade.
The film, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival last year, features Schnapp as the food-obsessed titular pre-teen Abe — although that is not his only name. The Israeli-Jewish side of his family calls him Avram while the Palestinian-Muslim side Ibrahim. Meanwhile, his first-Generation agnostic lawyer parents call him Abraham. Then there are the readers of his food blog that know him simply as Abe.
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The film, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival last year, features Schnapp as the food-obsessed titular pre-teen Abe — although that is not his only name. The Israeli-Jewish side of his family calls him Avram while the Palestinian-Muslim side Ibrahim. Meanwhile, his first-Generation agnostic lawyer parents call him Abraham. Then there are the readers of his food blog that know him simply as Abe.
More from DeadlineCrime Thriller 'Stray Dolls' With Cynthia Nixon Debuts, Deepak Chopra Brings Peace With 'The Mindfulness Movement' - Specialty Streaming PreviewRom-Com 'Almost Love' Makes Debut, IFC Serves Horror With 'The Other Lamb' - Specialty Streaming Preview'Resistance' Pivots To Digital Release, 'Tape' Sets Virtual Premiere,...
- 4/17/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Walls of cock rings, porn star Jeff Stryker, Larry Flynt, and a kindly married Jewish couple: One of these things is not like the other. They all come together in perfect if unexpected harmony in “Circus of Books,” the delightful new documentary premiering on Netflix next week which just released a trailer. Deeply personal and wildly entertaining, “Circus of Books” is the feature debut of performance artist Rachel Mason, who turns the camera on her own parents, at one point the largest distributors of gay porn in the United States. Their story, lovingly rendered without smoothing over its complexities, turns out to be a vital piece of Lgbtq history.
Here’s the official synopsis:
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For 35-plus years, the gay porn shop Circus...
Here’s the official synopsis:
More from IndieWireIliza Shlesinger Is Beating the Apocalypse With Home Cooking and Two New ShowsStream of the Day: Why 'The Florida Project' Has a Perfect Ending
For 35-plus years, the gay porn shop Circus...
- 4/14/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Not to be confused with the recent New York City-set documentary The Booksellers, Circus of Books is another acclaimed look at the world of bookselling–among other things–of an entirely different variety. World premiering at Tribeca Film Festival last year and now arriving on Netflix this month, the film explores the famous gay porn shop that operated for over 35 years in West Hollywood.
Directed by Rachel Mason, her parents Karen and Barry Mason were the actual owners of the shop, making for a very personal look at their family life as the secrecy of running the shop was kept in their circles. The film, executive produced by Ryan Murphy, also explores the Lgbt+ community that the store helped foster along with facing the struggles of the AIDS epidemic and fight for personal rights.
“My mom basically tried for four years to get this thing to not happen. But I just kept showing up,...
Directed by Rachel Mason, her parents Karen and Barry Mason were the actual owners of the shop, making for a very personal look at their family life as the secrecy of running the shop was kept in their circles. The film, executive produced by Ryan Murphy, also explores the Lgbt+ community that the store helped foster along with facing the struggles of the AIDS epidemic and fight for personal rights.
“My mom basically tried for four years to get this thing to not happen. But I just kept showing up,...
- 4/14/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Rachel Mason grew up believing that her parents ran a small bookstore in Los Angeles. She wasn’t entirely mistaken, although the naive young woman — then an artsy teen, now a documentary filmmaker — never imagined that, as her mother Karen bluntly tells her on camera, “at one point, we were probably the biggest distributor of hardcore gay films in the United States.” Named for the now-defunct SoCal fixture, “Circus of Books” is an affectionate look at one of the most unusual mom and pop businesses in America, directed by the person who knew Mom and Pop best.
As such, it’s no great surprise that Rachel (who puts herself on screen up front) focuses on Karen and Barry Mason, the straight, middle-class California couple who established and operated the shop, rather than what such an establishment meant to L.A.’s gay population at the time. Mixed among the vintage...
As such, it’s no great surprise that Rachel (who puts herself on screen up front) focuses on Karen and Barry Mason, the straight, middle-class California couple who established and operated the shop, rather than what such an establishment meant to L.A.’s gay population at the time. Mixed among the vintage...
- 7/24/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Granted, the red carpet at the opening night of Outfest in Dtla may not have been the most star-studded but it was without a doubt the most diverse, inclusive and, yes, fabulous.
“I’ve never been here before,” admitted “RuPaul’s Drag Race” vet Trixie Mattel, who stars in the documentary “Moving Parts.” “It’s supposed to be the greatest film festival for Lgbtq+ content, but in my opinion, all the best films feature Lgbtq+ artists, directors, cameramen. I work on ‘Drag Race,’ where everybody behind the camera is a person of color or a queer person and it feels more like that tonight. It feels more like home.”
The opening night film was a documentary about the elderly suburban couple and their three kids who owned and operated the now-shuttered Circus of Books, two gay porn shops in West Hollywood and Silverlake. “We’re both Jewish, so when we grew up,...
“I’ve never been here before,” admitted “RuPaul’s Drag Race” vet Trixie Mattel, who stars in the documentary “Moving Parts.” “It’s supposed to be the greatest film festival for Lgbtq+ content, but in my opinion, all the best films feature Lgbtq+ artists, directors, cameramen. I work on ‘Drag Race,’ where everybody behind the camera is a person of color or a queer person and it feels more like that tonight. It feels more like home.”
The opening night film was a documentary about the elderly suburban couple and their three kids who owned and operated the now-shuttered Circus of Books, two gay porn shops in West Hollywood and Silverlake. “We’re both Jewish, so when we grew up,...
- 7/20/2019
- by James Patrick Herman
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to Circus of Books, Rachel Mason’s documentary about growing up alongside the iconic West Hollywood gay porn book store run by her parents. The deal comes ahead of the pic’s world premiere at in the Feature Documentary section at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Mason’s film spotlights the contradictions of growing up in the home of Karen and Barry Mason where sex was never discussed, but the business that grew out of a temporary gig distributing magazines for publisher Larry Flynt after their medical device company failed put her through college. (The family eventually ran a mini adult empire that included a hardcore film production company.)
Ryan Murphy, Josh Braun, John Battsek, Rhianon Jones and Gerald Herman are executive producers. The deal was negotiated by Submarine’s Braun and Katy Alimohammadi and Chris Perez of Donaldson + Callif.
Circus of Books premieres Friday...
Mason’s film spotlights the contradictions of growing up in the home of Karen and Barry Mason where sex was never discussed, but the business that grew out of a temporary gig distributing magazines for publisher Larry Flynt after their medical device company failed put her through college. (The family eventually ran a mini adult empire that included a hardcore film production company.)
Ryan Murphy, Josh Braun, John Battsek, Rhianon Jones and Gerald Herman are executive producers. The deal was negotiated by Submarine’s Braun and Katy Alimohammadi and Chris Perez of Donaldson + Callif.
Circus of Books premieres Friday...
- 4/25/2019
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix has acquired worldwide rights to the documentary “Circus of Books” ahead of its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Rachel Mason wrote and directed the pic, and also produced it along with Kathryn Robson, Cynthia Childs, Camilla Hall and Adam Baran. Ryan Murphy, Josh Braun, John Battsek, Rhianon Jones and Gerald Herman executive produced. Bob Hawk is a consulting producer.
The doc is set in the gay porn shop “Circus of Books,” which for 35 years, has served as an epicenter for Lgbt life and culture in Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to many in the community, the store is cultivated and cared for by its owners, Karen and Barry Mason — a straight couple with three children. The movie offers an intimate portrait of the Masons and their journey to become one of the biggest distributors of hardcore gay porn in the United States. Their story unfolds through the lens of their daughter,...
Rachel Mason wrote and directed the pic, and also produced it along with Kathryn Robson, Cynthia Childs, Camilla Hall and Adam Baran. Ryan Murphy, Josh Braun, John Battsek, Rhianon Jones and Gerald Herman executive produced. Bob Hawk is a consulting producer.
The doc is set in the gay porn shop “Circus of Books,” which for 35 years, has served as an epicenter for Lgbt life and culture in Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to many in the community, the store is cultivated and cared for by its owners, Karen and Barry Mason — a straight couple with three children. The movie offers an intimate portrait of the Masons and their journey to become one of the biggest distributors of hardcore gay porn in the United States. Their story unfolds through the lens of their daughter,...
- 4/25/2019
- by Justin Kroll
- Variety Film + TV
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